Find The Long-Term Balance in Life

“Believe me it is better to understand the balance sheet of one’s own life than of the corn trade.” — Seneca

“Believe me it is better to understand the balance sheet of one’s own life than of the corn trade.” — Seneca

We’re constantly juggling work, friends, family, fitness and sleep. It’s hard to find the balance when we’re ambitiously chasing hard goals.

Short bursts of intense sacrifice are good. In the long-run, however, we all need to find the balance.

When you’re working hard to get a big sale, build the business or finish before a deadline it’s ok for your social life, family, fitness and sleep to take a hit for a short time.

Keep this up too long however and you’ll end up tired, alone and in a body that doesn’t work.

You may have the corner office with enough money to afford a fancy car and expensive clothes, but you’ll wish that you’d spent more time with family and friends. You’ll wish that you had knees and a heart that worked.

When you’re training for a marathon, cycling race or big sporting event the early morning and late evening training will impact your work, social life, and sleep. That’s ok.

After too many races and too many years neglecting work however, you’ll end with a great body and no money.

Keen to spend your late 20’s and early 30’s partying every weekend and sleeping all week? It’s fun at the time, but remember that you’re sacrificing work and fitness. Being poor, fat with a few good bar stories to tell is not how you want to grow old.

If your hard ambition is to build a good family with your partner your combined long-run mix of work, fitness and family is what’s important. As a family unit, you’ll need to balance income (work), exercise and giving your children the support that they need (family).

It is possible that you’ll sacrifice your career to become a stay at home dad or mom while your spouse works hard to support you. Alternatively, you may be the one slaving away at the office while your partner has all the fun. These sacrifices and long-term trade-offs may be what’s needed to find the long-run family balance. If this is the case, don’t forget your fitness, sleep, and friends.